Racoons are a fairly cute looking animal, which many cartoons and kid’s movies have depicted as both lovable and adorable. It is that cute face and that bushy tail that has long made this animal one of the more popular ones among children.
The fact that these animals carry a number of illnesses with them seems to have escaped the recognition by many within the child media industry. They have made these animals out to be a wonderful, mischievous little critter that is to be loved and not avoided.
However, the truth of the matter is that this is the kind of animal that you should stay away from. Because they do carry these diseases, which can often be passed through their feces, they pose a risk to you and your family should you come in contact with them.
Despite this, raccoons are not animals that are aggressive. They will generally try to stay away from people because they see you as a greater threat to them. But is that true with the pets in your house? Do raccoons attack cats, dogs, or other pets? That’s a question that requires a more detailed answer.
Whether you are talking about your cat, your pet Chihuahua, or your German Shepherd, in the vast majority of cases raccoons would be afraid of these animals. Raccoons survive by being anonymous in many ways. They are creatures that sleep during the day and come out at night, making them a nocturnal, primarily because their eyesight is by far superior at night that it is during the day.
This is instinctual. They will find some location to sleep during the daytime hours, then use their senses that enable them to be better hunters and gatherers at night, and make their way around their area to find food together for the evening. Once the sun comes back, they are ready to get back into their shelter and rest for the day.
During the night, should they come across your cat or dog they would see these animals as a potential threat to them. This would mean that they would try to avoid them at all costs. So, the answer would seem that they would not attack your pet.
That is true in the vast majority of cases. However, there are two instances where a raccoon would attack your pet. The first of these is if your pet was close to their babies. Like any other mother out there, raccoons will do all they can to protect their newborns. This means if your pet is coming around them then she will do all she can to deter your pet from coming any closer.
In addition, if a raccoon is severely ill or injured and is “out of its mind”so to speak, then it is likely to attack your pet. Its normal instincts would be damaged by whatever illness or affliction it has suffered, and so it is reacting abnormally. This is when a raccoon can be extremely dangerous because of their unpredictability.
Read more:
Raccoon Control,
how to get rid of raccoons,
Raccoon Feces,
How to get raccoons out of the ceiling.
